Children are at the heart of our mission

The Catholic Youth Organization (C.Y.O.) is one of the oldest, strongest and most effective non-profit agencies in the Hamilton community. Over the past 50 years, the C.Y.O. has come to realize that raising a child is difficult, but raising a child with a profound physical or developmental disability can be beyond our imagination. That is why the C.Y.O. has now made it our mission to break down barriers – whether they are physical, behavioural, or even financial – because we truly believe that every child deserves to play.

Mission

Rooted in Catholic values and participating in the mission of the Church, the Catholic Youth Organization (C.Y.O.) serves children, teens and families through these programs and services:

Provides training, resources and consultation to parish communities to assist in the development of Youth Ministry initiatives.

Provides specific programs to children, teens and families in Youth Ministry,camping and athletics

Provides Christian Leadership development programs for teens; and creates opportunities for teens to share these skills.

Ensures that marginalized children, teens and families have access to all C.Y.O. programs and services.

Vision

Through our programs and services, the Catholic Youth Organization will help to develop a Catholic Community in which children and teens are recognized as being an integral part of the Church of today; and as such, are invited to contribute to the growth of our faith community.

Values

In fulfilling our mission and in pursuit of our vision, we stress these Gospel values.

The dignity of each person.

The gifts of young people.

The call to justice and discipleship.

The wisdom of shared leadership.

Borrowed from the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM)